SPI CEO sets clear focus

SPI’s CEO, Jeanette Rouvel, outlined her strategic and technical focus for the company to ISMR, as well as the trends and customer requirements that are shaping the market for sheet metal software.

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SPI Sheet Metal Solutions helps sheet metal fabricators and sheet metal service providers to achieve an integrated process chain from the idea to the finished product. SPI GmbH has been developing specialised software solutions for the sheet metal industry since 1980. The North German specialist is a development partner for SolidWorks, Autodesk and TRUMPF.

“Our flagship SheetMetal software enhances the functionality of leading CAD applications with specialised sheet metal commands and calculations, significantly reducing design errors and accelerating fabrication timelines. The SPI unfolding algorithm guarantees production-ready flat patterns for complex geometries including multi-body parts, assemblies and freeform or curved surfaces. Seamless CAD-to-CAM connectivity is achieved through dedicated machine interface add-ons, while the SheetMetal Calculator add-on provides integrated cost calculation,” it explained.

SPI’s CEO, Jeanette Rouvel, outlined her strategic and technical focus for the company to ISMR, as well as the trends and customer requirements that are shaping the market for sheet metal software.

ISMR: Please give a brief background to SPI and highlight any notable successes and achievements over the past two years.

Jeanette Rouvel (JR): SPI has been making software for the sheet metal industry since 1980. We will be celebrating our 45th anniversary later this year. Our customers are sheet metal fabricators and sheet metal service providers who specialise in laser cutting and bending manufacturing processes.

Over the past few years, our manufacturing-focused software solutions have proved particularly valuable as the industry faces increasing cost increases and skilled labour challenges. Our approach bridges the gap between design and manufacturing, ensuring that designs that look good in CAD also work seamlessly in production.

ISMR: Can you elaborate on ‘bridging the gap between design and manufacturing’? How does SPI achieve this?

JR: From the outset, we saw that our customers couldn’t achieve satisfactory results using the standard unfolding tools provided with most standard CAD programs. This insight led to one of our key innovations, which remains at the core of our software: a robust sheet metal unfolding system capable of handling even poorly constructed parts.

At the same time, we recognised that customers want to remain in their existing CAD environment — they don’t want to manage separate systems. Therefore, we have focused on a fully integrated add-in approach to create a seamless user experience. We have consistently evolved with the market, focusing on CAD systems with the greatest penetration in the sheet metal processing industry. Currently, these are SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor.

ISMR: In view of current geopolitical tensions and conflicts, what are your views on the global business climate for sheet metal professionals in 2025? What do you project for 2026?

To read the rest of this interview in the October 2025 issue of ISMR, see https://joom.ag/JO2d/p58